The present invention relates to an area recognition apparatus for recognizing an area marked with a closed loop on an original document.
In handling an image input/output system for a digital copying machine, a special operation is frequently required to process an image in a manner that a part of an image is cut out, moved to another location, or the like. In such a case, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 63-232677 discloses a method to process an image area by marking with a closed loop on the original document.
The conventional method detects color data and density data of an area designation mark drawn on the original document, and then determines whether or not an aimed pixel locates inside or outside the closed loop, on the basis of the detected data. However, when the mark and an image overlap, the mark cannot form a complete closed loop. Therefore, the conventional method fails to normally recognize the area, and fails to process the image by designating a specified area of the image with the mark.